Late Days of Our Lives actor Bill Hayes makes final appearance in sweet scene with his real-life wife

Six months after the death of longtime Days of Our Lives actor Bill Hayes, viewers are saying goodbye to him again.

His character Doug Williams' time in Salem came to an end in a touching scene with his onscreen wife, Julie Williams, who is played by Susan Seaforth Hayes, to whom Hayes had been married in real life since 1974.

In the scene, the onscreen couple discussed their romance over the years, after finding out that their daughter, Abigail, may still be alive. After Julie says she fell in love with him upon sight, Hayes' Doug had some sweet words for her.

"I had become a new man," he said. "I had to change to deserve you."

The couple embraced and shared a kiss.

Days launched on NBC in 1965 and moved to the network's streaming site, Peacock, in 2022. Bill Hayes appeared on more than 2,100 episodes since 1970, when he originated the role of the lounge singer with a con artist background. His character — and Hayes himself — charmed Susan Seaforth (and Julie) in the ’70s. Two years after Hayes and Seaforth married, so did their popular characters, prompting a Time cover story about the audience's love for soaps.

When Hayes died in January at 98, the show's executive producer Ken Corday was bereft.

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"I have known Bill for most of my life, and he embodied the heart and soul of Days of Our Lives," Corday said. "Although we are grieving and will miss him, Bill's indelible legacy will live on in our hearts and the stories we tell, both on and off the screen."

According to PEOPLE, Hayes will not appear on Days again; however, residents of the fictional town will celebrate Doug in a funeral later this year.